Secret Kiss (9 page)

She was…disarming. His defenses were crumbling with each passing moment, and he was forgetting why they were there in the first place.

Adam intentionally slowed his steps to a strolling, leisurely pace. They needed to get back to work, but he was in no hurry.

“So you mentioned that your grandparents raised you. What happened to your parents? If you don’t mind me asking?”

Before Jane had a chance to answer, his phone buzzed. Only a few people had this number, so as much as he wanted to ignore it, he knew he couldn’t. After pulling the device from his pocket, he saw that it was Declan.

“I’m sorry. I need to take this.” He stopped just as they reached the corner where Brewed Awakenings was.

“Of course. I’ll see you back at the office.” Jane smiled brightly as she continued on.

His eyes drifted down her back, locking on the sway of her hips. Today, Jane was wearing dark-grey slacks that hung loosely on her thin frame, but now that Adam had seen Jane in her gardening gear, he knew what the legs beneath that material looked like. And that knowledge gave him x-ray vision. His fingers itched to run along the slender slope of the back of her knee, up her thigh, and all the way to…

His phone buzzed again, snapping him out of his momentary fantasy.

“Hey, D.” He’d been waiting for this call all week. “What’s up?”

“Hey, man. I have bad news and more bad news. What do you want first?”

Adam had figured as much since the news Declan had involved Alexis. In the eight years they’d been together, he’d learned a lot, but mainly that nothing could ever be easy with her.

“Okay, what’s the bad news?”

“Bad news: she’s not only refusing to vacate the property, she’s now moved furniture in. With her connections, it will take more than the local authorities to get her out. I am working on getting the lease transferred to her name, but again, with her connections, it’s not going smoothly.” Declan took a breath before continuing. “And in more bad news: I just got a counter offer from her lawyer, and she wants more money.”

“How much?” Adam thought he’d have a stronger feeling about these proceedings, but instead, he felt…nothing. Totally numb.

“She wants double,” Declan said as if that news would shock Adam.

It didn’t.

“I know you want this over with as quickly as possible, so I say we meet her halfwa—”

“No.” Adam didn’t care about the money. “Just give her what she wants.”

“Adam,” Declan warned, “that’s
two million
dollars.”

“I know.”

Declan urgently explained, “We can negotiate this down. She’s the party at fault. Most likely, we can even avoid going to court, and I know that a mediator would see it—”

“I don’t want mediation. I don’t want to go to court. I don’t want to see her. I don’t want to speak to her. I just want this done. Get the papers signed. Do what you have to do.”

There was a moment of silence—it was probably killing his friend to hold his tongue. Money had always been important to Declan. It was to most kids who grew up like they had. To Adam, money was something he could live without and knew how to earn. Alexis was trying to use it as a weapon, and that wasn’t going to happen. No one and nothing would ever hold any kind of power over him again.

“Okay.” Declan sighed. “If that’s really what you want.”

“It is,” he assured his friend.

“All right. I’ll let you know when it’s done.”

Adam disconnected the call and waited to feel…something. Anything. Anger. Sadness. Loss. If not for the person, then for the dent in his bank account.

But the only thing he felt was desire. Desire to see Jane. She had the strangest effect on him. She calmed him down and excited him at the same time. Over the week they’d spent working side by side in silence, just being in her presence had grown to be addicting.

Which was bad. The last thing he needed was to get into some kind of rebound relationship, especially with a girl as amazing as Jane, but he still rounded the corner to the office a little faster than he would normally.

As soon as he cleared it, he saw Jane standing in front of the office building, her back facing him. She wasn’t alone. Eli, a firefighter who frequented his cousin’s bar, was with her. Adam had gotten to know the guy over the past few weeks he’d been in Hope Falls, and he liked him well enough. What he didn’t like was seeing him talk to Jane.

He didn’t like that at all.

An emotion Adam couldn’t quite put his finger on welled up inside of him like a giant wave about to crash onto the shore. As he approached, he noticed that she was stuttering over her words. Adam couldn’t make out what she was saying, but her voice was about an octave higher than it usually was.

She was flustered.

When he got closer, he heard Eli speak, and the words that came out of his mouth did not sit well with Adam.

Eli grinned down at Jane. “Well, at least promise you’ll save me a dance.”

“Oh…oh…okay… Yeah, sure.”

“See you tomorrow.” Eli winked at Jane before heading across the street to the fire station, nodding to Adam when he noticed him standing there.

That feeling that had welled up in him just moments ago when he’d first seen Eli and Jane talking flooded through him now, and he was able to identify it.

It was jealousy.

Which was absolutely ridiculous. He had no rights to her. She could flirt or be flirted with by anyone.

Since she had her back to him still, he couldn’t see her face. One of the things about Jane that was quickly growing on him was that everything she felt was written all over her face. He might not always know
why
she was feeling the things she was feeling, but he knew
what
she was feeling.

With Alexis, he’d always had to guess what was really going on behind her icy-blue eyes. All the years he’d been with her, he’d chalked it up to her job. You can’t choose a mate whose entire career is based on scheming and deceit and then be shocked to find out they’re a liar and a manipulator.

“Hey,” he spoke when he got within a foot of Jane.

Gasping audibly, she jumped and spun around. Placing one hand over her heart and the other over her stomach, she looked up at him with wide eyes. “I didn’t hear you.”

“Sorry.” He’d attempted not to scare her by alerting her to his presence, but that had backfired.

“Oh, it’s fine.” She blushed as she pulled a large ring of keys from her purse and unlocked the door, her hand shaking.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yep,” Jane answered, nodding without looking at him.

She could have been trembling from the adrenaline from having been surprised by him, but he’d noticed how flustered she had been when she was talking to Eli, and he had a feeling that it had more to do with that.

They made their way inside, and as much as he wanted to push to find out what she and Eli had been talking about, he didn’t ask. It truly was none of his business. Still, it was driving him crazy.

Luckily, just as they were settling back into work, the door flew open and Vivien from the coffee shop rushed in right past his desk that sat just to the side of the door. Without sparing a glance in his direction, she stalked directly to Jane’s desk, speaking so fast that Adam thought she’d give John “Motormouth” Moschitta, Jr. a run for his money.

“Audrey said that she saw Eli talking to you. Did he ask you out? Are you going to the benefit with him?”

Shit.
Eli had been asking her out. Of course he had. Jane was gorgeous, smart, sweet, and, from what he learned, available. Why wouldn’t Eli ask her out? Why wouldn’t every single guy in Hope Falls ask her out? If his circumstances were different, he’d do the same thing.

His shoulders tensed as he waited for Jane’s response.

She stared up at the redheaded speed-talker like she was in shock. Shaking her head and blinking twice, she said, “No.” His shoulders relaxed—until she continued clarifying. “I mean…yes, he did. But, no…I’m not.”

“Why not?” Vivien asked. “He is a
fireman
and he is
haaawwwt
.”

A blush crept up Jane’s cheeks, and her eyes quickly sliced to Adam for the first time since Vivien had barged in. “I’m just… We already have a table…”

“Table, shmable! When a man like Eli asks you out, it’s buy-new-panties time, chickadee.”

Jane’s eyes widened.

That was it. Hearing Vivien encourage Jane to “buy new panties” caused something to snap in Adam, and he heard himself saying, “Jane and I are going to the fundraiser together.”

It was the truth. On Monday, Nikki had basically engineered their agreement to attend the benefit together. Neither of them had brought it up since then though, and Adam had been trying to figure out what to do about it. Spending more time with Jane wasn’t a good idea for more reasons than he could count. So why was he hoping that, even though they’d been set up, she was going to go along with it and let him take her to the event?

Vivien spun around in shock. It was obvious that she’d had no idea he was there before he’d spoken.

“Oh, I see. My bad.” A smile spread across her face as she glanced between Jane and Adam and lifted her hands in mock surrender. “I didn’t know.”

Adam had heard the expression about silence being louder than words, but he’d never experienced it until this moment. Jane sat quiet as a church mouse looking like she wanted to disappear while Adam tried to rationalize his knee-jerk reaction.

Popping her lips, Vivien clapped her hands together. “Okie dokie… Well, I guess I will see you guys tomorrow night, then.”

“See you tomorrow,” Jane said sweetly.

When the office door shut, Jane’s eyes met his.

Instead of asking if she even wanted to go with him or not, Adam asked, “Pick you up at seven?”

“Okay,” Jane said a little breathlessly.

Adam nodded once and then turned his attention back to his computer. Now, he wasn’t just living across the street and working with Jane. He was going on a date with her.

Apparently, keeping his distance had flown out the window.

‡

D
o. Not. Panic.

Jane turned side to side in front of the full-length mirror and sucked in her belly, hoping that would be the magical missing piece to complete the what-to-wear puzzle. It wasn’t.

Ten dresses and none of them are working! How is that possible?!

Since she’d moved to Hope Falls over a year ago, Jane had put on about, hmmm, roughly ten pounds. She hadn’t noticed it in her regular clothing because she’d never worn form-fitting garments. Sure, her pants were a little snugger around her hips and she’d had to buy new bras because she’d gone up a cup size, but other than that, she hadn’t paid much attention to her body’s changes. They’d seemed insignificant.

Until now.

She owned ten formal dresses.
Ten
. All of which had fit her before her move. None of which fit her now. Hope Falls was like Olive Garden—when you’re here, you’re family…and there are unlimited breadsticks.

Her eyes darted to her nightstand, where the red LED light mocked her. It was six fifteen. Adam was going to pick her up in less than an hour. In the almost decade since she’d been obligated to attend black-tie dinners and events, she’d never put much thought into what she wore. Her weight hadn’t fluctuated so drastically before, either. If it had ever been an issue, she would’ve tried these dresses on before the last minute.

Now, she was screwed.

What was she going to do?

Cancel!
her inner voice screamed.

No
! she screamed back, as if her inner voice were an actual person. She couldn’t cancel.

It would be rude and irresponsible. This was not a social event. It was business. She needed to be there to represent Gowan Enterprises and the Latch Key to Success program. Investors were everywhere, and she believed in this program with all of her heart. Dress or no dress, she was going to the benefit.

Her mind started flipping through the female population of Hope Falls like a mental rolodex. Jane was desperately trying to think of anyone she would share a dress size with. Now that she was a little curvier, she had no idea.

And moreover, she had no time.

Looking down at the nine discarded dresses that were lying across her bed, she figured that she was going to have to go with the lesser of all the evils. Four of the dresses were out of the running because she couldn’t get the zipper up. So she threw those tight offenders over the chair beside her bed. Then she looked at the remaining candidates.

There were three metallic-colored dresses that, although they technically
fit
, emphasized every single dip and curve. Tonight was already going to be uncomfortable enough without having to worry about a flash of light hitting her dress and highlighting an unfortunate roll or unwanted bulge. She eighty-sixed those without a second thought.

With her choices narrowed down to the two garments lying on her bed and the one she was wearing, she did a quick pro/con of each dress. The tea-length, black cocktail dress was snug, but the zipper closed. Thank God for small blessings. Yet, she hesitated to declare the LBD the winner. But the reason for her hesitation stemmed from the fact that it was just so
plain
. There was no va-va-voom factor.